Random notes on our experience with THREE rescued miniature dachshunds

Breaking Housebreaking

by mwdonnelly on September 26, 2007

Well, I thoughtJasmine was housebroken. Both on Monday and today, Jasmine pooped in the living room behind my husband’s easy chair.

Until now, Jasmine has been a rock star when it comes to house training. When we brought her home, she had two or three accidents in the house. But since then, we’ve been consistent on a daily basis of when she goes out–first thing in the morning, around 10:30 for a walk, around mid-afternoon and in the evening for another walk. She has been acclimated to this schedule for 2 1/2 months.

All of a sudden on Monday, I found poop behind the chair. Right after breakfast, I had gone into the living room to check my email. I sat on the couch, and Jasmine roamed around a little. She sat behind the easy chair and made a small whimpering noise. I asked her what was up, she ran over and plopped into her doggie bed. A few minutes later, I noticed a smell and found the poop. I cleaned it up, but since I didn’t catch her in the act, I couldn’t try to show her it was wrong. Today, right after breakfast again, she ran out in the living room for less than five minutes (she has a wild dog/run around the house thing going on after breakfast). She came back in the kitchen and went into her crate while I sat and read the newspaper. I went down the hall to the office to work, and a few minutes later, I went towards the kitchen to get a beverage. As I was passing the living room, I smelled a smell…yes, she had pooped in the exact same spot.

I cleaned it up again, and this time, instead of just using the Nature’s Miracle stuff, I also steam cleaned the carpet with our handy dandy handheld machine. But again, since I didn’t catch her in the act, I couldn’t correct her.

What puzzles me is the change in her routine. Why is she doing this now? The only thing that has changed this week is that we’re doing more training. She’s getting slightly more food than before (I cut down on her kibble to compensate for the training treats). Other than that, our schedule has remained the same.

We’re going to try taking her out right after her breakfast. We continue to praise her and use the “do your business” phrase to signal her going, but I’m not sure what else to do to stop this before it becomes a habit. She has NEVER pooped in the house before; her prior accidents were just wetting the carpet.